Vibraphone

An updated recording with faster tempo.

In this week's set of lessons, we're examining some different rhythmic comping exercises. Most of these are based around a simple dotted quarter and eighth note rhythm. In this first day, work on exaggerating the shortness of the eighth note. Keep it short and crisp to make the exercise groove.

Hello everyone!
It's been awhile since I've posted anything on the site, but I'm finding time to be a vibraphonist at least a little while school consumes my life...

Last weekend I attended the first Vibes Bootcamp at Tony's house in Philadelphia. He wants to make it a recurring event, so I figured I'd give a little recap:

The boot camp was an intensive two days of studying vibes in an intimate yet relaxed setting; there were only five of us, plus Tony and Anthony Smith as our instructors. Randy Sutin also stopped by to hang and offer playing tips.

Day 5 is similar to Day 4 with open position chords. Take notice of the final chord in this lesson. It's a Cm6 chord with the 11th in the top. This is a great voicing for minor chords. Be sure to memorize this one and put it through some different keys.

Day 4: All the chords are in open position. Although they're in open position, you will see that some of the chords still have a lot of crunchiness. Try memorizing these voicings and maybe try them in a few different keys.

Day 3: You will notice some open position chords in this progression. They are on the ii-V part. The tonic chords are still closed. Make note of the crunchiness in the closed chords.